Europe’s installed wind capacity will increase 64% by 2020
Published: 21 July, 2014
Wind turbine installations in the European Union will increase 64% by 2020 compared to 2013 levels, according to data compiled by the European Wind Energy Association.
A protracted economic crisis in Europe since 2009 and regulatory instability in a number of key European markets has contributed to EWEA’s new scenario for 2020.
EU member states will reach a combined 192.4GW of installed capacity by the end of the decade with offshore installations accounting for 23.5GW of the total.
This will mean investments of up to €124 billion in wind farms across the EU, creating over 100,000 additional jobs in the wind industry.
Justin Wilkes, deputy chief executive officer of the European Wind Energy Association, said: “A cocktail of regulatory uncertainty, ongoing climate and energy discussions at EU level and rapidly evolving national frameworks has contributed to these new scenarios.
“However, while regulatory stability is still recovering in Europe, onshore markets such as Germany, France, United Kingdom and Poland will remain key for wind power installations.”
Wilkes added: “For offshore, extra confidence in the UK, continued deployment in Germany, and faster deployment in France and the Netherlands should continue to push the industry forward to 2020. It remains the fastest growing part of the power sector in Europe today.”
EWEA expects wind energy to produce 442 TWh of power, meeting 14.9% of electricity consumption in 2020.
The new scenario looks at both annual and cumulative installations (in MW) and includes a country breakdown for 2020, but not for intermediate years.
